The invention relates to thin conductor cables. More particularly, the invention relates to a multiplicity of thin conductors configured as a flat ribbon cable and surrounded by a common exterior sheath. Thin conductors may be for example optical fibres or metal wires.
Moreover the present invention relates to optical fibre cables. More particularly, the invention relates to a multiplicity of optical fibres configured as a flat ribbon cable and surrounded by a common exterior sheath, which are currently widely used in the telecommunications field to transmit information.
In general, a ribbon of thin conductors, as optical fibres, is made with a multiplicity of conductors arranged parallel to each other. The thin conductors will be considered to be xe2x80x9cadjacentxe2x80x9d one another.
Thus, thin conductors ribbon are presently being made employing a plurality of thin conductors, each conductor having a circumscribing single or multi-layered coat from an ultraviolet light (UV) curable resins, such as UV acrylates.
Providing a plurality of coated thin conductors from a pay-off station and arranging the plurality in planar arrays makes the thin conductor ribbon. The planar arrays of thin conductors are passed through a ribbon die wherein an UV curable primary matrix ribbonizing layer material is coated there over to form uncured enveloping layers over the planar arrays of thin conductors.
The planar arrays, having the uncured enveloping layers are passed through one or more UV curing light sources which cause the UV curable matrix material to cure into cured primary matrix ribbonizing layers so forming the thin conductor ribbon members which are adjacent and lie in the same plane.
For example the optical fibre ribbon members are passed through a ribbon die wherein a UV curable secondary matrix layer material is coated over the primary matrix ribbonizing layers to form an uncured enveloping layer over the primary matrix layers. The secondary matrix material layer is cured by passing it through one or more UV curing light sources which cause the UV curable matrix material to cure into the secondary matrix ribbonizing layer so forming the ribbon optical fibre. For instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,677 to Yang et al., incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in Yang et al., an UV curable resins are used, the liquid resins are applied on the surface optical fibres and then the curing process is applied to a coating deposited on the surface of the optical fibres.
As a consequence, a need exists for less expensive coatings for thin conductor ribbon. This is, to reduce the production costs of thin conductor ribbon, for example through a modification in the curing process of the composition used to coat the thin conductor ribbon.
In order to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above, the present invention provides for a thin conductor ribbon having a plurality of thin conductors that are adhesively grouped together using an emulsion polymer to form the ribbon cable. The polymer coated thin conductor is withstood to a drying process, which are well known in the art.
Using emulsion polymers is less expensive because of the cost of the furnace which is less expensive than UV furnace, the cost of the raw material also is less expensive than UV curable resin. Therefore, the overall cost of the manufacturing process is less expensive than UV curing process.